Let’s get the trumpet-blowing out of the road first. If you read my column last week you will see that my three against the field for the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree included the winner Tiger Roll.
Neither of my other selections Last Samuri and I Just Know finished, but I still finished well ahead though not enough to book that holiday. I’ll let you know my choices next year, if Trump and Putin decide not to blow us all to kingdom come.
As much as I got great joy from the result of the National, I don’t think I have ever been so sad while watching any sports event a few hours later very early on Sunday morning.
To watch Callum Hawkins forge into that long lead in the Commonwealth Games marathon was just wonderful, but then to see him crumple and collapse was devastating.
All those who have criticised the organisers for not getting medical help to him much quicker are completely right. It was very clear that when he went down the second time, he was not going to get up again, and where was the supposed lead vehicle? Was I watching a different race or was Hawkins not actually winning the race when he went down? Shouldn’t the ‘lead’ vehicle have been with the leader?
Steve Cram called it right on television, and his word ‘distressing’ was only the half of it. It was blood-curling having to watch a fellow Scot in such obvious pain, and for me the indelible image of an otherwise magnificently-organised Games will be the sight of Hawkins lying on the tarmac with not a medic in sight. Shameful, but thankfully he seems to be fine and we can look forward to him winning many marathons in the future – preferably in less hot conditions, that is.
All that being said, Team Scotland had a great Games, though not quite in the way that I expected. Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall got that fifth gold, and our bowlers did well in general, as did our shooters.
Neil Fachie and Matthew Rotheram made us all proud in the cycling as did Katie Archibald and Mark Stewart, and Grace Reid made history with the nation’s first diving gold since Sir Peter Heatly in Cardiff 60 years ago – and didn’t his grandson James do well to get a bronze.
There is no praise high enough for swimmer Duncan Scott. For a lad of 20 to beat the world champion and hot favourite in the 100m freestyle was just immense, and for him to get six medals in all proves that the buzz about him before the Games was totally justified. If he keeps free of injury, he might just become our greatest-ever swimmer.
When you think of the number of close things we had in the pool, we might well have finished further up the medal table.
Same goes for cycling, and when you look at the number of fourth places we had in several sports – Sammi Kinghorn’s fourth in the T54 1,500m final was particularly heart-breaking – you could say it was a case of so near yet so far, yet you cannot argue with the simple fact that this was the best ‘away’ performance by Team Scotland since para-sports became part of the Games in Manchester in 2002.
I was disappointed that our boxers did not do better, but hopefully our medallists John Docherty and Reece McFadden have shown enough to guarantee them some funding. Jake Wightman on the track is simply heroic and will improve, and Mark Dry was just brilliant in claiming bronze in the hammer. Just one question – where are all those sprinters we used to produce? We need them for a rounded track and field team.
My own particular heroes were the basketball guys. Totally unfancied they went all the way to the semi-finals and gave a good account of themselves in the bronze medal match before losing to the Tall Blacks of New Zealand. There should simply be no question about funding for the Scottish basketball and netball teams. They will improve and let’s face it, they won’t have far to travel to Birmingham in 2022.
All in all, a most satisfying 2018 Games and wasn’t it good to see Scotland on a major world sports stage? Any chance our footballers might copy?
Also, I know not everyone’s back from Australia yet, but can someone in sportscotland not get a Victory Parade organised? It was one of the highlights of 2014, and while local authorities will rightly offer civic receptions and other ways of recognising the feats of ‘their’ Team Scotland members, I am sure that everyone who attended the main Parade in Glasgow in 2014 would happily do so again, even if we’re not the host nation this time. Over to you, Mel Young.
The Games proved yet again that Scotland has talent. Isn’t that braw?
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